In the United States today, 5.3 million people are living with Alzheimer's disease (AD) (Alzheimer's Association, 2015). With increased diagnostic accuracy for detecting AD, early stage cases of AD are rapidly growing. These individuals, especially when placed in residential care settings, can present significant behavioral challenges to staff members and other residents. Because extensive resources are required to address problematic behaviors associated with dementia, new approaches, interventions and treatments are needed to prevent or reduce the occurrence of these behaviors (Camp, Cohen-Mansfield, & Capezuti, 2002). Current research further emphasizes the importance of developing approaches aimed at maximizing quality of life by providing opportunities for persons with dementia to engage in purposeful, goal-oriented activities (Cohen-Mansfield, 2011; Mak, 2011). Taking part in a purposeful activity can help reduce agitation, boredom, loneliness and depression (Cohen-Mansfield, 2011). The shared residential environment, however, often stifles rather than encourages purposeful activity (Brush et al., 2012; Cohen- Mansfield, 2002). For example, many residential communities for persons with dementia provide special areas that display items intended to provide reminiscence and engagement for residents with dementia. Examples include fiddle boxes for tinkering, dolls, non-functional sewing paraphernalia, non-functional rotary phones, old manual typewriters, etc. In reality, these environmental features primarily serve as points of interest for family members to view when touring a residence rather than serving the needs of residents. To address these issues, a new product (MySearch(tm)) will be created through an iterative prototype development and testing process. The initial MySearch(tm) prototype kit will contain four new activities with the following properties: Self-directed; Self-paced; Focuses and builds on skills/strengths; Portable; Expandable; Sharable; Gender neutral; Use of templates that can be replicated easily; Individualized content which can be expanded; Age appropriate; Purposeful; Produces a creative work; Can be used independently (or with minimal staff assistance needed) by residents at any time. This research and development study will involve gathering data in four long-term care communities in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. At each community, 10 older adult residents will take part (n=10; N=40). The MySearch(tm) kit will be developed in two versions - alpha and beta. The alpha version will be created and initially tested in the first 3 months of the study. Feedback from this alpha version test will be incorporated into a revised beta version to be tested in the last 3 months of the study. The goal is to create four activities that will meet specific criteria necessay to commercialize MySearch(tm) successfully. If successful, MySearch(tm) will provide a unique and much needed activity choice for those seeking a purposeful alternative to other commercial activity products for persons with Alzheimer's disease.
In the United States today, 5.3 million people are living with Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is a severe lack of acceptable self-directed activity choices for persons with AD living in residential care settings, especially for persons in early to middle stages of dementia, resulting in challenging behaviors exhibited by these residents. If successful, this project would provide a new activity alternative for persons in early to middle stages of Alzheimer's disease, enabling them to have a better quality of life while concurrently reducing their challenging behaviors.
